it is kind of you to acknowledge the point I made quite some time ago.....
while analysts and airline PR people make alot of statements, there are some basic principles that people who understand the strategic nature of each airline could have seen.
WN does not generally compete against other carriers on a large scale basis in the same market. DEN was/is a notable exception and they started their DEN foray when they had plenty of fuel hedge gains to fuel their growth. Few people imagined that the F9/UA/WN 3 way knockout fest would still be going on today but it looks like it might be winding down - and it has been costly to all 3 parties.
WN walked away from head to head combat w/ US in PHL and there was no reason to believe they would not do the same thing in ATL.
WN will have a decent-sized presence in ATL but the chart clearly shows that they are beefing up their presence in their largest "hubs"close to ATL - MDW and BWI - while reducing most other markets to a max of 6 flights/day except for Florida. It was a given that they would shift some of their LGA slots to other hubs and they are doing that by opening up LGA-BNA service.
WN will most definitely start ATL-DAL service as soon as they can in addition to HOU which they serve well now.
ATL is a large market and WN will have a presence but they cannot compete in the same number of markets FL once flew, who also pushed a huge amount of connecting traffic thru ATL on a lower cost basis.
Finally, DOT data shows that WN is holding its own in its total revenue and market share in ATL but that might change with this latest round of cuts that will remove more and more markets from ATL. WN's reduction of frequencies in heavy business travel markets like LGA will have an impact on their ability to attract business clients - on top of not offering a first class cabin.
WN and DL have coexisted peacefully for quite some time but the notion that DL would suffer from WN's purchase of FL was never expected by anyone who understood the industry.
WN will be in ATL what it needs to be but it is alot less than what FL was and instead WN will focus its efforts in other cities and in markets from ATL like Florida and WN "hubs" where there will be plenty of opportunity to have a presence.
